Unknown Earth
"I'm Waaaaiiiting!" Sonic exclaimed as he tapped his foot on the ground.
Tony, who was making some last minute adjustments to the Gateway, rolled his eyes and turned his head to face the impatient hedgehog. "Okay, hold your horses." He responded before hearing an offended huff from Twilight, who was connecting some wires into the console with her magic. "No offense."
Twilight simply shook her head before connecting the two wires with her magic, allowing the console and the Gateway to spring to life. Everyone stared at the newly remade Gateway with impressed looks. But Twilight couldn't believe her eyes, this was astronomical. She had actually helped in the creation of a technology that could allow anypony to explore alternate worlds. This was a whole new branch in Equestrian science, and Twilight couldn't contain her excitement.
Mario let out an impressed whistle, "Well I'll be."
"You guys did it!" Sonic added happily.
Batman dusted his hands off saying, "It wasn't easy, but the Keystone did make things somewhat easier."
Twilight walked and stood in front of the Gateway and addressed her new friends. "It was hard, and we couldn't do it alone. But with friendship binding us together, there isn't a thing that we can't do." She felt her heart skip a beat when everyone, including Batman, nodded their heads in agreement. She looked at Batman curiously, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, and part of her worried about that. He wasn't like her other friends. He was careful, non-emotional, dark.
But beneath all of that, she knew that under that mask was someone who cared. Who cared for doing the right thing. That's why she would make it her personal mission to establish a deep friendship with the Dark Knight, and that in of itself would be a challenge. But she wouldn't be a student of friendship if she didn't at least try to become close friends with the hero of Gotham.
Iron Man cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Cheesy speeches aside," he swore he heard Twilight mutter something about how her speeches weren't cheesy before he walked over to the console, "I think it's time to switch this bad boy on and get out of here."
With that, he tapped his finger on the screen, causing the console to hum with power. Not only that, but the Gateway whirled to life and a portal was opened in the center of it. As the five heroes admired the newly opened portal, a deep, robotic voice suddenly spoke, putting everyone on high alert.
"Re-routing from back-up power. All systems are go. Limited system functionality restored."
Sonic tilted his head and eyed the Gateway suspiciously. ""Limited system functionality"? Hang on a second, am I going to lose an arm if I go through that thing?" He asked as he pointed to the Gateway portal.
Batman stroked his chin in thought, "It does look unstable. I saw some glowing parts get sucked into it, they must have been important."
"Like the Keystone?" Twilight suggested to the Dark Knight, appearing by his side with a smile.
Iron Man, getting the hint, took out the Keystone they had in their possession and placed it in the slot that it fit in. Looking up at the screen on the wall, Tony and the others saw an image of the Keystone being displayed on it. "Hey, nice job. You brought back the Shift Keystone." The robotic voice said happily, much to the confusion of the heroes.
"Um... Thanks?" Sonic said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Looks like we can finally get some answers." Mario commented before he asked, "Hey, who are you? And what is this place?"
"Oh! My bad. Guess it is pretty strange having some random voice compliment you randomly huh? For now, you can call me the Gateway Keeper, and I help in operating the Gateway to ensure it operates at full functionality. As for where you are, this is Vorton! A world between worlds. It used to be a refuge for the ancients before it was abandoned."
Twilight and Sonic's eyes shot wide open. This place, Vorton, was a refuge for the Ancients? A refuge from what exactly? Why would they abandon this place? All these answers led to more questions.
The little unicorn decided to ask the prominent question. "What exactly is a Keystone?"
The Gateway Keeper was more than happy to answer this particular question. "The Keystones are ancient technology that grant its user unlimited access to the power it possesses within it. This particular Keystone is the Shift Keystone, which allows its wielder to teleport anywhere and everywhere within reason. It's with these Keystones that the Gateway is able to remain stable, less risk of ending up on a dead planet with no way back."
Tony folded his arms, "So what you're saying is that we need to find these Keystones and bring them back here?"
"Pretty much." The Gateway Keeper responded with no hesitation. "The more Keystones you guys bring back here, the less chance of them falling into the wrong hands. And trust me, you don't want some crazy whack job messing around with something they don't understand."
"Ain't that the truth." Sonic muttered to himself, recollecting how powerful Eggman had been with just one Keystone in his arsenal.
Twilight turned to the others, "I guess we have no choice. We have to venture into these other worlds to find these Keystones and bring them back so they don't end up in anyone's hooves."
"I think you mean hands, Twilight." Tony helpfully corrected the unicorn.
She rolled her eyes at the billionaire. "You know what I mean. Once we bring back the Keystones we can make the Gateway stable enough so we can find our friends!"
Sonic chuckled and gave the unicorn a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan!"
When everyone else nodded in agreement, Twilight turned to the console and declared, "Okay Gateway Keeper, we're up to the task! We'll help you find these Keystones and keep them out of enemy hoov- HANDS! I mean hands. Hehehehe." She giggled awkwardly as a tint of red appeared on her cheeks. "And in exchange, once we find all of the Keystones, you'll help us find our friends."
The Gateway Keeper seemed pleased with that. "Okay great! In that case, step right on through. The Gateway has already been set on a specific world where another Keystone ended up. I'm currently tracking each Keystone and what dimension they ended up in, so it shouldn't be a problem to find them."
Sonic was more than ready to leave this place, there was barely any room for him to move after all. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it, to it!"
Tony gave the hedgehog a smirk before his faceplate closed over his face, "Not what I planned on doing today, but hey, I'm flexible."
Twilight trotted to the front of the group and stood in front of the Gateway for a moment. This was it. Her biggest adventure ever since she left for Ponyville nearly a year ago. This time she wouldn't be just protecting her friends and home town, she would be protecting multiple worlds! She'd be geeking out right now if she wasn't so scared. It was exciting, but terrifying at the same time. She gulped nervously before closing her eyes, she could do this! She had to do this! Her friends were counting on her.
She reopened her eyes and led the group of heroes into the Gateway.
Earth 1989
In the peaceful blue sky, where the clouds floated aimlessly, a Rift suddenly opened, disrupting the calmness as five unique individuals fell out of it. But there was something different about them, they appeared to be cel shaded, as if they were drawn as cartoon characters.
"Where are we?!" Twilight shouted as she fell through the sky, flailing her legs around helplessly.
Mario took a second to look at his hands and his surroundings before asking a question of his own. "And why does everything look so... Strange?!"
Sonic looked to Iron Man with pleading eyes, "Uh, Tony? Care to fly us to safety?!!!"
"I can't! That jump through the Gateway must've shorted out my thrusters!" Iron Man informed the group, much to their horror. "I say we'd better brace ourselves!!!"
As they all fell through the clouds, they all failed to notice two giant yellow words appear from out of thin air, parting the clouds as a choir hummed a certain name.
Twilight, looking down as she fell, noticed a few roofs that were getting closer... And closer... And closer. They were about to crash! Thinking quickly, she lit up her horn and cast a shield spell around her and her friends to protect them. They all crashed through a brown roof and landed in a living room with pink walls, green carpet, a painting of a sail boat hanging above a brown couch, sitting in front of a television.
They had landed in the living room of 742 Evergreen Terrace.
While Twilight, Batman, and Mario landed on the couch, Tony and Sonic weren't so lucky. The blue hedgehog landed face first into the carpet while Tony landed right on top of him. Already their time in this dimension was trying their patience. Getting off of Sonic’s back, Tony tapped his helmet a few times before his HUD came back online.
Sonic pulled himself out of the carpet and slowly got to his feet, muttering to himself. "Why is it that whenever I free fall, I always land on my face?!" Twilight giggled at the hedgehog, causing him to turn away in embarrassment.
Iron Man looked around the living room, taking note of how everything was cel shaded. Must be an effect of this dimension. He turned to the other heroes and shrugged, "That's one way to make an entrance."
"I'll say." Twilight agreed before hopping off the couch. Curious, the unicorn trotted out of the room and looked around, noting how big this house really was. She eventually made her way into the kitchen and opened the fridge, seeing all sorts of food stocked inside of it.
What caught her eye was a red can with the word 'Duff' written on it. It must've been a beverage of some kind. She shrugged, "I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I had a sip. I am rather parched after all." Lifting the can of Duff with her magic, Twilight opened it and took a sip. Only to spit it out immediately afterwards, “Who the hay would drink this stuff?!” She tossed it into the bin and coughed up a storm before trotting back into the living room.
She was never going to drink that again for as long as she lived.
"Enough messing around." Batman ordered as he made his way out the backdoor, "Let's find the Keystone and get out of here."
Shrugging, the group followed the Dark Knight out of the house and into the daylight. The backyard was pretty basic, there was a swing set, a sandpit, and a poorly constructed treehouse. "Hey, anyone else notice how everything looks sooo... Cartoonish? Or is that just me?" Iron Man asked as he walked around the backyard.
Folding his arms, Mario replied, "It's not just you."
Looking to the sky and tapping her chin in thought, Twilight hypothesized, "Strange. It seems like some dimensions have a certain... Effect within them. That must be why we look like cartoon characters! Our bodies have been modified to be accustomed to this world!"
"That is the best theory we have at the moment." Batman agreed before turning to Iron Man, "Have your scanners picked up any sign of the Keystone?"
"They don't need to."
"Why's that?"
"Because it's right up there." Tony revealed by pointing up to the roof of the house. Once everyone turned, they saw that a Keystone with yellow engravings was sitting on top of the chimney. He activated his rocket boots and flew up to the roof, hovering in front of the Keystone.
He was about to grab it when Twilight suddenly shouted, "LOOK OUT!" enticing him to turn around and see a missile headed right towards him. Boosting upwards, Tony just dodged the missile as it exploded against the chimney, destroying it and launching the Keystone into the air.
It spun around in the air for a few moments before bouncing and landing in the middle of the street.
Tony turned and looked down at his teammates, "The Keystone landed in the middle of the street!" He informed them as he pointed to the road. Sonic was already making a break for the Keystone with Twilight and the others in toe.
The blue hedgehog skidded to a stop in the street before the others joined him. "Where did that missile come from?" He asked Iron Man as he landed on the ground next to him.
"My guess would be from them." Batman spoke up as he pointed down to the end of the block. Once everyone turned, they saw a swarm of Soulless Ones and some very familiar gunmen in what appeared to be outfits resembling beekeeper suits.
Well they were familiar to Iron Man anyway.
It appears that A.I.M. has invaded the town of Springfield.
"What the hell?" Tony asked himself upon seeing the terrorist organization from his home dimension wreaking havoc here.
Mario looked up to the armored hero confusedly, "Friends of yours?"
"Hardly."
He looked back to the assembled group of A.I.M. Agents and Soulless Ones, now just noticing that one of the agents were wearing a mechanical suit. It was grey in color with guns for hands. The agent was wearing an advanced version of their trademark suit. It had red highlights on the shoulders as well as a red visor to go along with it.
The A.I.M. M.E.C.H.A. aimed her guns at the heroes, preparing to fire.
Twilight looked nervous, she wasn't prepared for this at all. Sure it was naïve of her to think that this would be a cakewalk, but she couldn't help it. She didn't have a violent bone in her body. She hated the feeling of fighting, she always believed that any problem could be solved without violence.
That's what Princess Celestia taught her.
But it appears that those teachings won't matter here.
Sonic bent his right leg back and tapped the tip of his foot onto the ground, showing that he was ready to go. "Finally! Some action!" He was bouncing on the spot showing his excitement for the coming battle.
Tony hovered in the air slightly before shouting, "Take them down!" With that declaration, he flew forward with Sonic running alongside him.
"Protect the Keystone!" Batman added as he ran with the others into battle.
The A.I.M. M.E.C.H.A. opened fire as the Soulless Ones dashed forward with an intent to kill. Sonic curled into a ball and knocked down three of them while Iron Man fired two Repulsor Blasts, which sent two A.I.M. Agents flying through the air.
Mario slid under a strike from a Soulless One before spin kicking it to the floor. Before it could recover, the plumber jumped into the air and destroyed it with a ground pound, red mist elevating into the air due to the destruction of the enemy force.
Batman threw three Batarangs at the A.I.M. Agents, specifically their gun barrels. Before they could fire their shots, their guns were clogged with the projectiles. And to make matters worse, when they pulled the triggers of their guns, they exploded in their hands, sending them sprawling on their backs.
Twilight quickly pulled a shield over herself to block the bullets coming from the guns on the A.I.M. M.E.C.H.A.. She closed her eyes tightly as the shield began to crack, her horn began to ache from the pressure. But she wouldn't give in here. With a shout from deep within, she let loose a shockwave that sent the A.I.M. M.E.C.H.A. flying through the air.
As the mechanical suit bearing agent landed on the ground, Sonic took this chance to run around her. He ran so fast that he created a wall of blue to block her vision. She fired multiple bullets from her guns, but the blue hedgehog was too fast for her to hit.
She spun around in circles, trying to hit her target when a sudden bat shaped shadow was cast over her. When the agent looked up, she gasped as Batman leapt downwards towards her, kicking her in the chest with enough force to knock her down.
The A.I.M. Agent tried getting back up, but just ended up falling back down to the ground in defeat.
Sonic skidded to a halt and gave Batman a thumbs up.
Batman simply nodded back to him, resulting in the blue hero slumping forward in disappointment.
Meanwhile, Iron Man landed next to Twilight and ruffled her mane with his hand, much to her annoyance. "Nice job there, Twi." He complimented before turning around and making his way to the Keystone. "Now let's get that Keystone out of here and figure out what A.I.M. is up to."
But just as he was about to grab the ancient device, he was suddenly clotheslined by a Soulless Commander. Iron Man flew through the air for a moment before crash landing on top of a car, shattering the windows and denting the roof.
"Tony!" Twilight cried out in alarm before making a break for the Keystone.
But Batman reached out in an attempt to stop her. "Twilight no!" He bellowed before rushing forward to try and save her from being sliced into ribbons by the Soulless Commander. But it was in vain as the servant of The Exiled created a shockwave by swinging its arm, which resulted in both Twilight and Batman being knocked back.
"Hey! Not cool!" Sonic exclaimed as he and Mario rushed forward to help their friends.
The Soulless Commander grabbed the Keystone with the tip of its arm and raised it into the air. It turned its head and saw both Mario and Sonic dashing towards it. Seeing as how it got what it wanted, it flashed its eye for a moment before teleporting away, taking the Keystone for itself.
Sonic and Mario stopped running and looked around in confusion for a moment before realizing that the Commander had gone.
"Shoot!" The Blue Blur said in frustration before dashing over to help Twilight to her hooves. "You guys okay?"
"I've had worse." Batman replied gruffly as he rotated his shoulder around.
Tony rolled off of the top of the car and took off into the sky in search of the Keystone. Once he was high enough he began scanning for any signs of the Keystone. "J.A.R.V.I.S. you find anything?" He asked his artificial assistant, hoping that he had found out where that Soulless Commander had gone.
Turns out it was Tony's lucky day as J.A.R.V.I.S. had managed to pinpoint a position. "Indeed I have, sir. I have pinpointed the location of the Keystone to a building called the Springfield Town Hall."
"Then that's where we're going." He replied before looking down at his teammates to relay that information. "Looks like the Keystone is in the Town Hall."
"Then that's where we are going." Batman decided to the agreement of the group.
Twilight nodded before taking off at a full on gallop. "Come on everypony! We haven't a moment to lose!"
Meanwhile
The town of Springfield was in chaos, everyone was in a panic. Several A.I.M Agents were swarming the streets, opening fire on innocent civilians. Cars were exploding, people were running in fear. It was pandemonium.
At the Lard Lad donut shop, multiple people were held up as Soulless Ones and A.I.M. M.E.C.H.A.'s surrounded the place. One of the mech suit wearing agents aimed at the Lard Lad stature and opened fire, blowing it apart, enticing the people inside the shop to scream in terror.
At the local Krusty Burger, the roof was currently ablaze as the owner of the chain, a clown with long green hair on the sides with a little puff of hair on the top of his head wearing a purple shirt with green pants and rather large shoes ran out of the store with briefcases full of money in each hand.
Krusty turned around to assess the damage before booking it. But he was stopped when two Soulless Ones suddenly appeared before him. The TV clown slowly backed away as they advanced on him. "Uh, heh heh heh... I don't suppose you guys take checks?" He asked meekly, hoping that would get them to back off. He got his answer when they rushed towards him.
Realizing that now would be a good time to run away, Krusty the Clown did just that.
Meanwhile: At the Nuclear Power Plant
If there was one place that was the most populated with A.I.M. Agents and Soulless Ones, it would be the Nuclear Power Plant. The place was swarming with enemies with guns and other means of destruction. In the waiting room, a pair of workers were currently huddled together as four A.I.M. Agents walked closer with their guns trained on them.
One was a dark skinned man wearing a grey jacket over a purple sweater with grey pants and brown shoes.
Carl Carlson shook fearfully next to his best friend, who was a yellow skinned man wearing blue suspenders over a green long sleeved shirt. He had a muzzle on his face and slicked back brown hair. His bottoms were grey in color as were his shoes.
Lenny Leonard looked to Carl with fear in his eyes, looks like they weren't getting out of this one.
But while all this was going on, one safety inspector was sleeping through it. The inspector of Sector-7G was in a deep sleep as he snored over the various explosions. He was a bald man, except for a few strands of hair on the top and the sides. He was yellow skinned with a tanned muzzle over his mouth. He wore a white shirt with blue pants and grey shoes.
Homer Simpson screamed in his sleep before yelling out, "It's not selling out! It's Co-Branding. CO-BRANDING!!!"
After that little spout of nonsense, he went back to sleep, snoring as loudly as he could.
But inside the office of the owner was where things were getting real dicey. Sitting at his desk was an old man with a long pointy nose, three liver spots on the left of his temple, and some grey hair on the back of his head. He wore a blue suit with a tanned tie over a white shirt.
C. Montgomery Burns tended his fingers together as several A.I.M. Agents swarmed the room, aiming their guns directly at him. To his left was his assistant, a man with glasses wearing a greenish jacket over a white shirt and purple bow tie. He also had blue pants and black shoes. He had spikey grey hair and was unquestionably loyal to Mr. Burns.
Waylon Smithers took a small step back as he saw Burns reach under the desk to press the red button that activated the trap door. But he was stopped when the Scientist Supreme slammed her hand on the desk.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Monica threatened slyly, with a smirk that screamed mischievous.
Mr. Burns leaned over to Smithers and whispered, "Smithers, who are these armed beekeepers?"
Waylon shrugged, "I... Have no idea sir."
"You try my patience, C. Montgomery Burns!" The voice of the leader of A.I.M. declared as he hovered into the room. He had a massive head with tiny arms and legs, sitting in his chair full of various weapons designed only for killing. His chair and armor were yellow in color, except for the headband on his head with the red jewel inside of it. The band was purple while the gem was red. He had pupilless eyes, brown hair, and purple armor over his arms and legs.
M.O.D.O.K. slammed his tiny fist into the arm of his Doomsday Chair, he was growing impatient. "Relay the location of the Foundation Element now! Or I will destroy this entire nuclear power plant!"
But Mr. Burns simply waved his hand dismissively, "Oh pish posh! You talk a big game, my large headed fellow, but you couldn't possibly be serious."
It was then that M.O.D.O.K. smiled widely, sending a chill down both Mr. Burns' and Mr. Smithers' spines. "Foolish old man! Don't you know who I am? I am known as the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing! If you believe my threats to be nothing more than empty words... Then allow me to show you how serious I truly am."
Suddenly, a large laser cannon emerged from the side of M.O.D.O.K.'s Doomsday Chair and aimed itself at one of his A.I.M. Agents. Without hesitation, he opened fire and disintegrated him to ash. Mr. Smithers held his stomach and puffed out his cheeks, he was going to be sick.
Burns simply scowled. This man meant business.
M.O.D.O.K. hovered closer to Mr. Burns to intimidate the old man. "Now, where is the Foundation Element?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Was Mr. Burns' reply.
The leader of A.I.M. sighed dejectedly. He turned to Monica, "It appears we're going to have to do this the hard way. Tear this place apart until you find that piece of Plutonium!"
Smithers tilted his head in confusion. "Plutonium? There's plenty of it in the facility, how are you struggling to find it?"
M.O.D.O.K. laughed in Smithers' face. "Fool! Because we're not looking for any piece of Plutonium. What we need is a specific piece. One that is in the hands of an employee here in this power plant."
But before M.O.D.O.K. could go on any further, he was interrupted by a voice in his ear. "Yoo Hoo? Bobblehead? You there?"
"Bobblehead" sighed before addressing Mr. Burns. "Excuse me for a moment. It appears my asset has found something." He then hovered over to the wall of televisions and tapped the side of his head. "This is... Bobblehead. What have you found?"
"Turns out you were right, Bighead! There really is an ancient temple beneath the city! Who knew?"
M.O.D.O.K. smiled, "So you have found it?"
"We're getting there! I'll let you know! But keep in mind that you may have lost a few guys down here."
"How?"
"Well, some of them were crushed by rubble. And the other I just shot in the face because I was bored! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"This one is absolutely insane." M.O.D.O.K. thought to himself as he shook his head. "Just inform me when you are ready for the second phase of the plan."
"Will do! Oh! By the way, have you found the Element yet?"
M.O.D.O.K. was about to say no, when he suddenly spotted a certain someone sleeping in his chair. He caught glimpse of Homer sleeping in Sector-7G. But that wasn't what caught his attention. No, what caught his interest was what was hanging out of his pocket.
A rod of Plutonium.
The fat oaf matched the description Exiled gave him and his accomplice. This was it. It was inside Sector-7G.
"As a matter of fact." M.O.D.O.K. began before chuckling evilly, "I think I just might have."